Type-writing machine



J. B. HAMMOND. Type-Writing Machine.

No. 224,088. Patented Feb. 3, I880.

UNITE STATES PAT NT OFFICE.

JAMES-B. HAMMOND, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 224,088, dated February3, 1880.

Application filed November 24, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES B. HAMMOND, ofHartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Type'WVriters; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same.

The object of my invention, which relates to type-writers, is tosimplify and to render more cfficient those parts connected with theoperation of the hammer, the signal, and the feed mechanism of thepaper-carrier.

These improved devices and the'principle of their operation I haveherein after fully setforth and particularly indicated in the claims.

Heretofore in type-writers of the class to which my invention appertainsthe impression-hammer has in some cases been provided with a separatespring, which was set for the stroke by the direct force applied throughthe key-levers. This arrangement requires an amount of force to beapplied to the keys which detracts from the delicacy of action of theinstrument. The escapement for the stepby-step movement of thepaper-carriers has also been heretofore made in aform less practicablefor actual use in such machines.

I have devised a methodtof effecting the cooking of the hammer for eachstroke by the same force and movement which causes the movement of thepaper-carriage. V

In the drawings hereunto attached, and forming part of thisspecification, Figure l is a perspective, and Fig. 2 a rear elevation,of my apparatus detached from the machine.

In these drawings that may be required for any style of machine.

It is pivoted on a standard, B. The tail a of the hammer extendshorizontally underneath the carrier-bar b of the papercarriage, and isformed with an offset, 0, set at right angles to the tail a. On thisoffset is pivoted a dog, cl, which may swing laterally into connectionwith an escapement-wheel, D, and when so in connect1on,and the saidwheel is turned in the direction of the arrow, the tail of the hammer islifted and the hammer pressed back against its spring and set for astroke.

The amount of motion of the hammer is the hammer is represented at A. Itis of the shape adapted to my special properly limited by the shoulderof the frame 6 above and the stop f below, so that the escapement-wheelmay lift the tail-piece only a limited distance, regulated in amount,for purposes hereinafter explained, hut sufficient always to move theimpression-hammer clear of the paper and to give a stroke of properforce.

In order to trip the hammer and allow it to strike the paper, Ihaveprovided another pivoted dog, G, of which one arm, g, extends over theescapement-wheel, and is provided with a catch adapted to catch over theteeth of the escapement-wheel. Another arm, It, extends in the oppositedirection beneath the end of a spring, t, which tends to keep itdepressed, with the catch on the other end, 9, out of engagement.

A third arm extends downward from a point a little to one side of thepivot of the dog, and is slotted to receive a pin, 70, fixed in the doga. When the arm his depressed by the spring, and. the catch in arm 9 isout of gear, the slotted arm is thrown toward the escapement-wheel, andthe dog d thereby carried into gear with thesaid wheel. As it isintended that the escapement-wheel shall always be moved in thedirection of the arrow with force at all times greater than that of thespring I, which gives the stroke of the hammer, it is apparent thatwhen. the dog 01 is in gear with the tooth of the escapementwheel thesaid wheel will lift the tail 'of the hammer and hold it in position forthe stroke until, by-the elevation of the arm h, thedog d isdisconnected from the escapement-wheel, when the spring Z will cause thehammer to strike. This motion of the dog G is effected by the key-leversE, which may bear against a lug, on, on the arm h, or against anintermediate lever or frame, F, whereby said keylever lifts the said armh, and throws the dog upon the end of. the hammer-tail out ofconnection.

The dog c7, and the catch uponvthe end of the arm 9 act together, and inconnection with the wheel D, as an escapement; and it will be observedthat the parts should be so arranged that the catch on arm g will standwhen the wheel 1) has lifted the tail of the hammer to its 1imits,withits face in the same plane as the vertical face of the tooth on theescapement-wheel, so that the arm g is pressed down into gear by thesame movement which throws the dog (I out of gear, and upward out ofgear by the reverse movement of the dog d. It is therefore manifest thatthere can be but a very slight rotary movement of the wheel, except whenit is lifting the dog and setting the hammer.

It is necessary, as a matter of course, that all the key-levers shouldbe in position to operate the dog.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, it is sufficient to showbut onekey-lever and its method of operating on the dog G. Modes ofconnection with all the key-levers are easy, and would present, for askilled workman, no special difficulty. I have shown in Fig. 1 how abent bar, F, may be pivoted at its ends to standards, while the mainpart of the bar is sufficiently extended to be operated by any requisitenumber of key-levers, and lifted by all equally.

The bent end on one side may extend underneath the lug on the arm h,being pivoted to the rear of it, and will serve to operate the dogwhatever key is struck.

The bar which forms part of the frame of the paper-carrier, or isconnected thereto, is shown at b. It is provided with teeth on its loweredge, which gear into a pinion, p, on the end of the shaft of theescapement-wheel D.

The wheel D is loose on its shaft, and is provided with a pawl, 12,pivoted on its face, and with a spring, 0, which holds the pawl incontact with a ratchet-wheel on the side of the pinion.

Movement of the pinion 29 in the direction of the arrow will carry withit the escapementwheel, and will also carry the rack-bar H to the right,as the machine is represented in the figures. Any suitable kind ofspring or weight may be applied either to the rack-bar or to the pinion.

I have shown, simply for illustration, the spring q, attached to the barby one end, and to the post fixed to the frame by the other, so that itsretraction tends to draw the bar to the right when the apparatus is inthe position shown.

Every movement of the wheel D permitted by the escapement will thereforeset the hammer, and at the same time shift the rack-bar, and with it thepaper-carrier, so as to bring the paper in proper position to receivethe impression from said hammer. The amount of movement imparted to saidcarriage must be suited to the space required between the lettersprinted. The order of the movements has been indicated. The stroke ofthe impressionhammer is given by the movement of the keylevers, trippingthe dog (Z and allowingthe spring I to act. The release of the key-leverafter it has been touched and the dog tripped permits theescapement-wheel-to move one notch, which resets the hammer, and at thesame time moves the paper-carrier one space; or, if the spring is uponthe frame or bar, as shown, the bar or frame is moved previously, andthe pinion and wheel through the bar; but, obviously, the effect is thesame in both cases. i

It is evident that the order of operation here described may be easilyreversed, so that the hammer may be cocked by the depression of thekey-levers, and tripped as the lever returns to a state of rest. Thismay be desirable in some forms and arrangements of the type mechanism.This would simply require that the spring should operate upon the underside of the arm h, holding the catch 9 within the escapement when atrest, the key-levers acting on the lug m in a direction opposite to thathereinbefore described.

In the application of this device to a typewriting machine, it ismanifest that the parts may be connected in any convenient manner to theframe or foundation of such machine, and the special form of attachmentas well as of parts may be greatly varied without departin g from thespirit of my invention.

It is manifest, also, that such an impressionhammer andcarriage-escapemcnt maybe useful on many forms of machine where the typeare upon a single piece, (plate, segment, bar,

&c.,) or upon separate pieces, when each type is impressed upon thepaper by a hammer common to all the type.

The form of escapement shown may be advantageouslyfiised for thepaper-carriage alone independently of connection with the hammer. Inthis case the (log 61, which forms practically one tooth of theescapement, is moved in the same way as now shown, by the key-leversdirectly or through an intermediate lever.

The ratchet-connection between the escapement-wheel and the pinion whichgears into the carrier-bar permits the paper -carrier to be moved fromright to left to begin the printing of a new line without interferencewith the escapement. The construction also permits, by means of a coiledspring attached to the pinion, or by means of a spring attached to thebar, of the storing up, in returning the carriage, of power to give thecarriage the necessary step-by-step movement required for printlng.

approach to the end of the line, I have arranged a bell, K, (such as isordinarily used for the purpose,) upon the end of the bar I). It

is held upon the bar by the frictional contact therewith of a clamp, r,so that the bell may be moved forward or backward upon the bar accordingto the required length of the line. On the hammer A is fixed the arm ofa bellhammer, s, so arranged in relation to the bell that it willdeliver a blow or several successive blows on said bell. The bell isadapted to pass over the bell-hammer, but near enough to receive theblow therefrom.

As a convenient means for indicating the Having thus described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Paten t,is-- 1. In a type-writing machine, the combination, with animpression-hammer, of a spring to cause it to strike, of a spring ofgreater force to set said hammer, and of a trip connected with thekey-levers, as set forth.

2. In a type-writing machine, the combination, with animpression-hammer, of a spring to cause it to strike, of apaper-carriage, of a spring and escapement adapted to move the carriagethe proper distance and also to set the hammer, and of a trip acted onby any one of the key-levers, as set forth.

3. In a type-writing. machine, the combina- 'tion, with apaper-carriage, of an escapementwheel operated by the key-levers, of agearwheel connected to said paper-carriage by a rack-bar, of a pawl andratchet between said escapement and gear-wheel, whereby the carriage maybe moved in one direction without moving the escapement-wheel, and ispermitted to move in the other direction only by the movement of theescapement-whee'l, all substantially as described.

4;. The combination of the dog Gr, hammer A, dog d,'and escapement-wheelD, the parts being moved and operated as set forth.

5. The combination of the dog GT, adapted to be moved by any one of thekey-levers, of the dog 01, and hammer A with the wheel D and pinion 10,and with the rack-bar of the paper-carriage and suitable springs, as setforth.

6. The combination, with the paper-carriage, of an adjustable bell andof an arm'attached to the hammer, whereby the approach to the end of aline of writing is indicated, as described.

In testimony Whereof I have signed my name to this specification inthepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES B. HAMMOND.

Witnesses WARREN SEELY, F. L. MIDDLETON.

